ZION, Ill. — After defeating the Warren Blue Devils in overtime on Saturday, the Lake Forest Boys’ Basketball Team once again realized how competitive the North Suburban Conference is on a nightly basis. Last night at Zion-Benton was no different. With a five point lead and 90 seconds remaining, the Scouts went on to lose 56-53.

“We started out the game kinda slow,” said senior Crawford Bolton in response to the 22-12 lead the Zee-Bees built up after the first period. Zion seemingly couldn’t miss in that first period hence the high scoring display.

Per usual, the second quarter was a bit different as the Scouts attempted to claw their way back in the game. A 16-10 run made the score 32-28 in favor of the host Zee-Bees heading into the half.

The third quarter was much more low-scoring than the previous periods. The Scouts’ offense seemed to abandon the inside game and rely a bit more on jump shots which didn’t quite work out. Zion’s shooting barrage had cooled off since the first as well, but junior guard Amar Aguilar paced the Zee-Bees all night from beyond the arc.

“The 4th quarter felt different. We started out really well and built a lead but ultimately couldn’t close it out,” said Bolton who finished with 16 points and four assists. Senior Tommy Hanson provided some three’s of his own for Lake Forest in the fourth quarter and he would go on to finish with 12 points on 4-7 shooting.

With that aforementioned lead late in the game, the Scouts weren’t as composed as they had previously looked. Zion’s full-court press may have been the cause of this and the Zee-Bees looked to get a little warmer late in the game from deep as well. On a key possession with ten seconds remaining, senior guard Jake Fisher drove to the hoop but his contested layup attempt didn’t fall through. The visiting Scouts would go on to lose by three.

Lake Forest welcomes Libertyville to the Competition Gym on Friday in what should be another great game.